THANK YOU!

There's nothing like being the recipient of amazing service to put things into perspective. I had hernia surgery on the 10th. Not fun, but necessary. I walked like a little old granny...bent over and very slow! I am getting faster but I won't be running any marathons anytime soon. And it will be 6 weeks before I can lift anything over 15 lbs. (which includes Dylan!)

So...how do the kiddos get fed and the clothes get washed and the house get clean and Dylan babysat???? That 's where wonderful family and friends and ward members come in. My ward scheduled meals that have been delicious. My family (especially Mom and Dad) have spent hours doing laundry, cleaning my house, watching Dylan, driving kids places, picking up prescriptions, etc. They are the most unselfish people I know. I have great friends as well that have helped watch Dylan, brought groceries, etc. And friends that have come and watched movies with me and just hung out with me so I don't go crazy just sitting here.

I much prefer being the one who is bringing in the meal, or babysitting kiddos, or cleaning someone's house for them. But I am grateful for those who have done those things for me. It is humbling, and definitely a reminder of how the little services we render mean so much to those on the receiving end in their time of need. I am truly blessed. Thank you!

HALLOWEEN!!!

The Jones' Halloween party! We missed you Angel, Dorea, Rhonda, and Kristi!

We had a great time trying to find just the right pumpkin at the patch. But every pumpkin was HUGE! We bought the smallest one and I still had to have Michael and Rachael carry it. I can't wait until after the surgery and I can lift things again...I hate being on the injured reserve!

All the cousins (minus the Jamesons in Utah) at Grammy and Papa's Halloween party. They love this tradition because parents are NOT invited. After the pictures are taken they love to shove us out the door...and we love to go out to dinner together with NO KIDS!!

My friend Alene and I went out on Halloween night and had a great time (despite the lame party!) She looked amazing! "Lucy, I'm home!"

NICOLE'S BAPTISM!

What a wonderful day!!! Nicole got baptized on Saturday by Papa (my dad). We are so grateful that he could perform this ordinance for her. Gary and Velyn and Emily and Vili and Jesse and Grandma and Grandpa Frandsen came from Utah. And Alan and Carolyn came from Texas. All of my siblings were there but Ryan and Linsey(we miss you guys!!) We also had great friends and ward members that came to support Nicole in her decision to be baptized. So many people love Nicole!!! :)

It was a special treat to be baptized with her friend Sammy Johnson. He was our next door neighbor and is one of Nicole's best friends. We were so happy to share this great day with the Johnson family, they are dear friends!

CHOCOLATE PARTY!

Nicole is addicted to chocolate! She comes by it honestly...her Mom's addicted to chocolate too. It is a special bond we share! For her 8th birthday party she wanted to have a chocolate party. She wanted to have the chocolate fountain and all the yummy stuff that goes with it-strawberries, bananas, pineapple, marshmallows, and graham crackers. They had a great time smothering everything in chocolate! Their faces were covered with the proof!

A NEW COUSIN!!!!!

We are so excited about our new cousin! My sister-in-law and her husband have been waiting 9 years to become parents and they just adopted a beautiful baby boy. We are so excited for them, they will be wonderful parents! Check out her blog (Lisa and Anthony) for pictures of sweet little Lawerance!

SCOTT ROCKS!!!!!

My youngest brother Scott is in a band called White Mammoth. They are really good (of course I'm not prejudiced at all!) They are really fun to listen to and we love to watch Scotty rock out. He is an amazingly talented musician...he plays the guitar and piano, and sings and writes music too. White Mammoth played on Saturday at Tempe Marketplace and it was the first time that my kids were able to see Uncle Scotty play. They thought he was cool before but now they think he is "the bomb!" We're proud of you Scott...you rock!

TOOL BELT DIVAS!!!

Tanisha threw a great birthday party for a friend in our ward. The theme was, "Tool Belt Divas." She went all out...decorations, hats, fondant cake, etc. We felt very "manly" as we tried to identify tools and build things. My friend Alene and I were partners in the birdhouse building contest and we won! (I had some major aggression to get out that night!) We won a Diva tool belt, pink safety goggles, a pink hammer and gloves and a screwdriver. We all had a blast! Thanks girls!

I Bet You Didn't Know We Were Expecting!!!!

We didn't know we were expecting either! But Sunday night this beautiful baby appeared on our doorstep. The note read...Please take care of my baby, Billy Bob Two-Teeth, etc., etc, etc. We thought it was hilarious! It came from our great friends the Gardners. They grew this watermelon in their garden...pretty impressive, huh?! And it was delicious! Thanks guys!

Dylan Turns 3!!!

Since this was the first birthday that Dylan was actually aware was occuring, I let him pick out his own cake. He chose this "catapilla" cake made of cupcakes. He loved it and kept going to the counter to look at it ALL DAY! I told him we were going to put 3 candles on it because he was going to be 3 yrs. old. He said, "I'm 8, I'm goin' to get baptized!" (We've attended 2 cousins baptizms lately) He told everyone he came in contact with that day that he was 8 and he was getting baptized. He even told my parents that when they returned from Canada a week after his birthday. They said, "How old are you Dylan?" And he said "I'm 8, I'm goin' to get baptized."

Back to School!

So, the first day back to school is always so full of excitement...new clothes, new backpacks, new lunchboxes, new teachers, and new friends. That's all great for the kiddos, but for Mom it means being away from my kids all day, everyday! This is very hard for me because I miss not being with them. I just don't get to spend as much time as I'd like with them during the school year! So, I'm happy for their first day back, and sad for me! I keep telling them to stop growing up but you know how kids are...they just don't listen!!!!

I took the cutest individual pictures of them but for some reason I kept getting an error message! I love technology...but not as much as you, you see! (Thanks, Napoleon Dynamite) Rachael is in 8th grade and is the big man on campus. Michael is in 5th grade, and Nicole is in 2nd grade. They are such great kids...I couldn't be more proud!

UTAH!

I finally got a new camera and have been taking pictures again. These are some of the best from our trip to UT. We had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa and cousins. One of the highlights of the trip was Hogle Zoo where we got some fantastic pictures.

No Pictures!!!!!!

The kids and I are loving summer vacation! It is so nice to not have to be ready and out of the house by 7:30 every morning. We have had time to just relax and hang out, and time to do some fun things. Last week we went swimming a few times at Garin's house. I took a lot of great pictures of the kids and some of their friends all playing in the pool. HOWEVER... my sweet, innocent, darling 2 yr. old Dylan decided that the camera wanted to go swimming with us so he chucked it into the water. I screamed at the top of my lungs and jumped in after it but it was too late. The camera was gone.
There is a reason that Heavenly Father makes 2 yr. olds so stinkin' cute, and that reason is because if they weren't so stinkin' cute...we would wring their little necks! It's a good thing that Dylan is adorable, because it saved his life this time! So it may be a little while before you see pictures again on this blog. Not because my kids aren't doing anything cute or fun...but because my darling little Dylan was having TOO MUCH FUN!!!!!

Boys Will Be... Transformers?

Sorry this video is a little bouncy, but I think it's so funny how they play Transformers. Dylan cracks me up when he transforms himself to standing, and then back down to a car. However, at the end he apparently turns into a puppy because Transformers do NOT say Ruff!

School's Out...Scream and Shout!

That is how we feel around here about the end of the school year! I survived my first year teaching full time and the kids got wonderful report cards. Michael even got straight A's! We all had a great year, but now it's time to PARTY! We are so excited to get to spend some time together as a family!

(I'm experimenting...if you got an email notification about this post, please email me back and let me know. Thanks!)

My Teenager!

Rachael has been gone for 4 days now! She went with her friend Marja's family to their houseboat on Lake Powell. I know that she is a teenager, and that sometimes she is moody, hormonal and the world revolves around her...but I miss her like CRAZY!!! About 5% of the time we call her "The Beast" but the other 95% of the time she is a joy to have around. She is such a good girl! I'm so proud of her and the choices she makes in her life. She is talented (this picture was at her band concert) and funny, and smart, and beautiful, and such a great help to me. I know this sounds a little like a "brag" not a "blog", but oh well!

Here she is with her best friends Marja and Scarlett. They are great girls!!!

Our French Anniversary!

So...I always blog about my kids because I think they are wonderful and my whole world revolves around them. However, this one is just about me. Exactly 1 year ago my family embarked on an amazing journey to France and Switzerland. My dad served his mission there and has been a French professor for 35 yrs. He has always dreamed of taking his children back the place he loves so dearly. Last May that dream became a reality. 12 of us packed up and headed for Paris. After a chaotic journey there, (that's another whole story) we finally arrived in Paris and began the trip of a lifetime. We saw all the tourist attractions...the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Arc de Triumphe, the Louvre, Versaille, etc. Then we headed north for some out of the way places and drove through some beautiful country to the Normandy Beaches and Mont St. Michel and many more. After an exciting ride on the high speed train to Geneva, we visited the mission home where my dad had served. We got to see where he lived and where he tracted, and where they sang in the park to attract investigators. It was a wonderful opportunity to share those places that had meant so much to him. Of course this is only a handful of places we went to and things we saw. The 10-day trip was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I will forever be grateful to my parents for taking us on that journey!

Now, to explain the picture above...to celebrate the one year anniversary of our glorious trip to France and Switzerland, we went out to a new french resteraunt in Suprise called Amuse Bouche (is that spelled right dad?) Anyway, we ate great french food and talked all night about our incredible memories of that trip. Truly, the trip of a lifetime!

My Little Star!

Many of you know that Nicole performs with a showchoir called Sunshine Generation. They had their awards ceremony on Thurs. and she received her 2 yr. trophy. She has been anxiously awaiting that trophy for...2 whole, long, years. She is very proud of it and shows it to everyone! She has great teachers-Miss Cami and Miss Wendy. They had the opportunity to perform Saturday for the Peach Festival at Schnepf Farms. They did a great job! She has really enjoyed having her girlfriends, Jessica and Jenna, perform with her this year. Then we took advantage of all the fun things to do at the festival...great food, shopping booths, the petting zoo. We had a really fun day, but we missed Michael too. (He was at the Father's and Son's with his friends.)

P.S. Notice that Nicole is missing her front tooth. She pulled it out HERSELF this week. I was so proud of her because she usually makes somebody else pull them out for her! EEWWWW!

Dylan is Sooooo 2!!!!

I was asked to play the piano in our stake conference last week and I needed a few minutes to practice. With a 2 yr. old around, I knew I needed to contain him in one place while I practiced so I put him in the high chair with a chocolate pudding cup. He absolutely loves chocolate anything so I expected him to lick the little plastic cup clean, allowing me some great practice time. However, about 5 minutes into my playing I realized it was super quiet. (As a mother of 4 children, I know that super quiet means somewhere, someone is up to something!) As I walked over to the kitchen he must have see me coming because he said, "dat so naughty, huh Mommy!" I laughed so hard for so long. Since I was the only one around I had to grab the camera so I could document the "naughtiness" of it all. He is so stinkin' cute!

Our Zoo Trip!

I took the kids to the zoo for the last time before summer. (You can't see any animals in the summer because they are hiding from the heat!) We had such a great time! We went to the Sting Ray Bay exhibit and got to play with the rays and baby sharks. The kids had a blast touching them and even got splashed by them a couple of times.


The second best part of the zoo trip was Harmony Farm where you can see the animals and pet the goats. Dylan loved the goats!!! He kept chasing them all over. Then when they'd stop he'd say, "what his name?" I'd have to look on the collar and tell him the name of the goat. Then he'd chase the next one and say, "what his name?" It was so darling!
We invited my sisters, Corinne and Stacy, to the zoo with us. Stacy was a trooper because she is 9 months pregnant! Their boys, Jameson, Alex, and Isaac are Dylan's best buddies. It was so funny to watch them talking to each other each time we'd get to a new animal. They would say something to each other and then laugh and laugh. What a blessing to live so close to cousins, and I love spending time with my sisters!

Michael is the Man!!!

I bought a lawnmower and trimmer a couple of weeks ago. I have a huge yard that my kiddos absolutely love, but the upkeep takes a lot of time. So I enlisted the help of my 10 yr. old, Michael. Papa put the lawnmower together and came over to help us get started and give us a few pointers. (His yard is always immaculate!) Michael was amazing! He had the best attitude! When Papa arrived Michael answered the door and said, "Michael Gary Tassainer reporting for duty!" He listened and followed every direction. He didn't complain once. I was so proud of him! We do the lawn together and it is so fun to spend that time with him. He is such a great young man!

Finally!!!

At the encouragement of my sister-in-laws and sisters, I am attempting to break into the world of blogging. I (like Corinne) make no promises to how often I will post anything new, or anything even worthwhile of your precious time. But with so many family and friends living so far away, this seems like a good way to share our life with them. I warn you that anything posted on this blog may be a shameless brag about my 4 wonderful, amazing children. They are my EVERYTHING!!